Normally, escalators and/or moving walks are supported at their two ends on elastic supporting elements which each consist of a steel plate and an elastic intermediate layer. Disadvantageous in this support system is that, in the event of excessive movements, lateral forces can arise by whose effects a truss, or frame, of the passenger-transportation device can be deformed.
These excessive movements arise, for example, through the action on a built structure of vibrations and shocks from earthquakes. The lateral forces arise as a result of the mass-inertia of the passenger-transportation device itself and through the movements of stories of the built structure which move relative to each other in horizontal direction. A passenger-transportation device that connects two stories can be caused, by the horizontal movements of the stories, to jump out of the supports system, or damage to the built structure and/or to the escalator and/or the moving walk can occur.
In order to prevent such damage, EP 0 963 941 B1 proposes a support system for supporting the two ends of a passenger-transportation device in a built structure. Provided at the first end of the passenger-transportation device, the support system has a swiveling support-point whose swivel-axis with regard to its installed position is arranged vertically. Provided at the second end of the passenger-transportation device, the support system further has a floating support-point, which is embodied for the purpose of absorbing horizontal movements that occur perpendicular to the swivel-axis. Arranged at the sides of the floating support-point are spring elements which, after a lateral movement, center the passenger-transportation device again.
The solution which is proposed in EP 0 963 941 B1 enables a prevention of damage, provided that a construction-dependent permissible velocity and/or frequency of the lateral movements is not exceeded. In the event of very rapid horizontal movements, and hence a high frequency of the vibrations and shocks that act on a built structure, the spring elements that are provided for centering act as quasi-rigid bodies and prevent an absorption of the horizontal movements within the floating support-point. Furthermore, the solution with springs is not suitable for areas with strong earthquakes, since the maximum possible displacement is greatly limited by the springs.
The task of the present invention is to create a support system which can also decouple rapid horizontal movements in the area of the support system.